Tiled wall and floor surface covering and method and means for applying same



Sept. 6, 1966 I. SMITH TILED WALL AND FLOOR SURFACE COVERING AND METHOD AND MEANS FOR APPLYING SAME Filed May 8, 1965 Ti. c:l.l.

INVENTOR. //?l//NG 17 United States Patent 3,270,473 TILED WALL AND FLOOR SURFACE COVERING sAANBIgEIVIETHOD AND MEANS FOR APPLYING Irving Smith, Flushing, N.Y. Arrow Art Finishers,

' 1201 Evergreen Ave., Bronx 72, N.Y.)

Filed May 8, 1963, Ser. No. 278,889 1 Claim. (Cl. 52390) This invention relates to a tiled wall or floor surface covering and also pertains to a method and means for applying the same.

More particularly, my invention is concerned with a tiled surface covering and a method and means of the character described which are specially designed for use a by a homeowner, that is to say the so-called do-it-yourselfer.

Conventional wall and floor tiles are applied in various fashions. The oldest and probabaly most widely used method is to employ a mastic, i.e., adhesive or cement, for securing the backs of individual tiles to an underlying foundation and to fill the spaces between tiles with a grout which sometimes may constitute the mastic itself.

Mastics of this type conventionally set up or harden to form a rigid bonding layer between the tiles and the wall or fioor surface, and, where the mastic is applied to the spaces between the tiles, between the tiles themselves. This mastic is intended to be a permanent component of the tiled installation, and adheres firmly and tenaciously to the surface to which it is applied and to the backs of the tiles. The removal of the tiled surface, i.e., the tiles and the mastic, from such surface at a later date does considerable damage to such surface. If the surface is a plaster-faced wall, the mastic is bonded to and clings tenaciously to the plaster so that the mastic when removed, pulls off with it chips or flakes of plaster. This necessitates resurfacing and painting of the wall, or other renovating to restore it to a pleasant appearance.

If such tiled surface covering is applied to a wooden surface, later removal will require scraping and refinishing of the wooden surface to restore it to an attractive appearance. The necessary renovation involved when the tiled surface covering is removed from plaster-faced and wooden surfaces, and in fact all other conventional surfaces is costly to the homeowner or apartment tenant and is inconvenient due to the intrusion'of workers to carry out the project.

Thus, it is an object of my invention to provide a means for applying tiles and the like to surfaces, which means can be later removed from such surface with a minimum amount of time and effort by a handy typical homeowner without the need of professional labor or special knowledge. My means can be removed easily and quickly in a manner to be described from the wall or floor surface, leaving such surface in the same condition as it was before application of the tiled surface covering.

The previous difficult and tedious removal of tiled surfacing also damaged the tiles and precluded their further use. Such damage may take place when a tool is used to remove the tiles from the surface, since this is commonly effectuated by forcing such a tool under an edge of the tile and prying it'ofi the wall. The tile usually cracks or chips under such treatment. Even if removal of some whole tiles can be done, some of the mastic bonding material will part from the wall but continue to adhere to the tile. The removal of such mastic from the tile is difficult, if not impossible and in most instances the tiles must be discarded.

Thus, it is a further object of my invention provide a wall and floor tiled surface covering and means for applying the same which will allow convenient and ready Patented Sept. 6, 1966 removal of the tiles in usable condition from the wall surface and removal of such means from the tiles so that the tiles are reusable for like purposes. Removal of tiles in such condition will effect a considerable economy use of my tiled surface covering and means for applying the tiles will yield an attractive tiled surface for the time desired and then the tiles and adhering means can be removed without harm to the temporary installation structure. The tiles may be salvaged for future use.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a tiled surface covering and method for applying the same which can be carried out by the homeowner himself without the necessity of hiring professional labor for such purpose. My tiled surface covering is especially adapted for do-ityourself home use and does not require special tools or messy adhering materials.

I effectuate these several objects and carry out my invention by providing a network of double-faced adhesive plane elements to join the tiles to a wall or fioor surface.

files on the wall or floor and are oriented in abutting relationship each in a similar manner so that, for ex ample, the right angle which each L-shape defines lies. in a similar corner in each rectangle.

A nexus of adjoining abutting elements defining an array of hollow rectangles is thus provided which adheres to the surface and which has an exposed adhesive face for adherence to the tiles.

Tile of a conventional nature may then be applied to the network and held thereto by virtue of the networks adhesive exposed face. Each tile is so located, and each element is so dimensioned and the network so proportioned that each edge of an individual tile lies on top and between the edges of a length of adhesive material and that each leg of each L-shaped element underlies and spans the abutment zone between each pair of contiguous tiles. The tiles are placed in rows in conventional fashion to cover the wall or floor surface.

The application of the adhesive network to the surface and the application of tile to the network is thus facilitated and can be easily carried out by the homeowner.

The adhesive elements have a release characteristic, i.e. do not permanently bond, that is to say, this adhesive coating has a greater adherence to the carrier sheet than to a wall or floor surface, so that the tiles and the adhesive elements may be stripped off the Wall as and when desired. The tiles may then be preserved for future use. The adhesive elements are preferably discarded, especially since their cost is minimal and since it is advantageous to use fresh fully adhesive and unused elements for each such project.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, arrangements of parts and series of steps which will be exemplified in the q) tiled wall or floor surface covering and means and method for applying the same hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention FIG. 1 is a front view of a partially completed tiled surface covering;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail perspective view of a small portion of an adhesive element network, and a tile preparatory to application thereto;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a stack of adhesive elements; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral denotes a network of adhesive elements 12 forming a reticular matrix of similarly oriented rectangles arranged end to end in contiguous rows. Such network comprises the means for joining tiles 14 to a wall or floor surface 16.

Tiles used in my invention are of a standard structural or decorative and commercially available type and are made of an attractive and wear-resistant material such as metal, wood, plastic, linoleum, cork or ceramic. Such tiles are generally rectangular and often square. In the illustrated embodiment of my invention, each tile 14 has four beveled or chamfered edges 18 and a raised fiat central portion 20. Ribs 22 run across the back, i.e. under side, 24 of the tile 14 and serve both to space the body portion of the tile 14 from the network 10 to which it is applied and to reinforce the exposed outer or decorative face 26 of the tile. The periphery of the tile 14 and the ribs 22 adjacent the periphery and integral with the tile are the only parts of the tile which contact the network 10. Nibs 28 protrude from the back side 24 of the tile and extend toward the surface 16. The nibs 28 do not contact the surface 16 when the tile 14 is in repose but serve to space the central portion of the tile 14 from the surface should such portion be flexed toward the surface as by accidental pressure.

The network 10 is made up of an array of L-shaped elements 12.- Each such element has two legs 30, here shown as of equal length, which define a right angle between them. The length of each leg, as indicated by bracket A of FIG. 1, is equal to the length of an edge 18 of the tile 14. The width of each leg 30, as indicated by bracket B of FIG. 1, is not critical. A typical width is 4 so that it is at least'as wide as, and preferably somewhat wider than, the distance between the outermost ribs 22 adjacent the abutment of two tiles (see FIG. 2). The legs 31) may be of different dimensions appropriate for tiles of different geometric shapes.

Each element 12 comprises a central carrier or backing sheet 32 and two tacky, pressure sensitive adhesive substantially coextensive face coatings 34, One coating being disposed on each side of the backing sheet. Before use a liner sheet 36 covers each of the adhesive face coatings 34 and is used to protect the adhesive coatings from contamination and to facilitate the handling and stacking of the elements.

The carrier sheet 32 is thin and flexible and may be made of various elastic, extensible or inextensible materials. Films of various flexible thermoplastic materials such as cellulose acetate, regenerated cellulose polyethylene terephthalate or polyvinyl chloride may be used. Paper sheet or fabric sheet may also be utilized.

The liner sheets 36 may be made of crinoline or various other inextensible materials but is preferably made of strong heavy paper of the type used in gummed paper tapes. The liner sheet optionally has a smooth hard imperforate surface so that it may have a high release characteristic and so be readily separated or peeled away from the adhesive coating 34. The paper may be resinimpregnated so as to have a dense surface and be treated with a releasing agent as silicone or wax so that the adhesive bond between the liner sheet and adhesive coating is less than that between the adhesive coating and the carrier sheet 32.

Various pressure sensitive adhesives may be used for the adhesive face coatings 34 and said adhesives should strongly bond to the carrier sheet 32 but be releasable from other surfaces. The pressure sensitive material employed may be any of the conventional water-insoluble rubber, resinous or asphaltic adhesives. Useful adhesives are disclosed in United States Letters Patent Nos. 2,532,- 011, 2,496,349, Re. 23,843 and 2,576,968. Either the carrier sheet 32 or the adhesive face coatings 34 are water impermeable.

The adhesive elements 12 may be conveniently merchandized to the users thereof in packages or stacks 38 of say fifty elements. As shown in FIG. 4, such a stack comprises a plurality of vertically aligned elements 12 with similarly shaped liner sheets 36 interposed between the elements and over the top and bottom of the stack. The cross-section of the stack 38, as shown in FIG. 5, consists, from top to bottom, of a liner sheet 36, a first adhesive face coating 34 of the topmost element 12, a carrier sheet 32 for this element, a second adhesive face coating 34 for the same element, a liner sheet 36, and so on.

The network 10 on the surface 16 is a nexus of elements 12 which are arranged in mutually perpendicular ranks and files in abutting relationship. Each element is similarly oriented so that say it defines the lower right right angle of a rectangle and so that the legs of the element 12 constitute the lower and right sides of such rectangle. The elements are arranged to abut one an other and to define an arrangement of contiguous end to end hollow rectangles disposed in contiguous rows. As shown by arrow C of FIG. 1, the center lines of the vertical legs of the elements 12 in any column are in alignment as are such lines of the horizontal legs in each row. The elimination of adhesive material from the center of the squares permits a more economical installation, allows the elements to be applied and removed quickly and aids the installer in obtaining correct alignment.

Each tile 14 is placed on or applied to the network 10 so that the central raised portion 20 of the tile is centered on a rectangle defined by the elements and so that each edge 18 of a tile lies approximately along a center line of an element leg 30 and in any event is located between the edges of the leg. The tiles abut one another, and the elements 12 underlie the abutment zones between the tiles.

The application of the tiled surface covering may optionally be initiated by first applying two elongated pressure sensitive strips 40 at right angles to one another so as to define two adjacent boundary lines of the area to be covered. In FIG. 1, these strips 40 have been placed on the upper and left sides of this area and in FIG. 2, on the lower and right sides. The strips 40 are preferably made from the same material as that used for the elements 12 and each is preferably one-half the width of a leg 30 of an element. The elements 12 are removed one at a time from the stack 38. One liner sheet 36 remains on and is removed from the stack with each element and provides a convenient surface for handling the element. An element is placed 011 the wall or fioor surface 16 with its uncovered adhesive face covering 34 placed against the wall or floor. After an element is so positioned, the liner sheet 36 is peeled from the second, outer and now exposed adhesive face.

The first element 12 is placed into the corner formed by the two strips 40, the right angle defined by the element 12 being placed diagonally across from the right angle formed by the strips. A tile 14 is then applied over the hollow adhesive rectangle thus formed.

. appropriate hand tools.

Progressively an element and a tile are deposited, the

application being continued by placing the elements and tiles in the manner described by first laying them on the surface in one horizontal row and then forming a horizontal row therebelow until the full tiled surface covering has been applied.

The tiles may be washed for regular cleaning purposes after installation. Since the elements underlie the abutment zones between the tiles, water is prevented from seeping through to the underlying wall or floor surface due to the water impermeability of the elements. Each tile is in effect sealed to the network to prevent water or other liquid damage from occurring to the structure surface.

When removal of the tiled surface covering is desired, each tile 14 is pulled off the surface 16 manually or by The adhesive face coating 34 is tackily adhesive but will release the tile when sufficient force is applied to pull the tile therefrom. The elements 12 are then likewise stripped from the surface 16 and are subsequently discarded, since it is preferable to use fresh adhesive elements in each undertaking. If any of the elements have adhered to the tiles 14, these are also removed.

The wall or floor surface 16 is thus left in the same condition as it was before application of the tiled surface covering. No plastering, painting or renovating is necessary to restore the wall or floor to such state. The tiles may be retained for future similar use in a different installation.

It thus will be seen that I have provided a tiled wall and floor surface covering and method and means for applying the same which achieve the several objects of my invention, and which are well adapted to the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made of the embodiment set forth above, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A tiled surface covering releasably adhered to a supporting surface, said covering comprising numerous square tiles arranged in ordered abutting fashion and a network composed of a multiplicity of identical thin flexible water-impermeable L-shaped elements for applying the square tiles to a supporting surface, each element being formed from sheet material and having two coplanar legs defining a right angle therebetween, said legs being of the same length and width and having pressure sensitive adhesive on both broad faces thereof, the length of each leg being the same as the length of an edge of a tile, said elements being similarly oriented and being releasably adhered to said supporting surface, each of the legs of the elements having a free end and a common end, the free ends of the legs of each element abutting the common ends of the legs of different adjacent elements whereby to align one set of legs of the elements in parallel columns and the other set of legs of the elements in parallel rows at right angles to the said columns so as to form ranks and files of hollow rectangles with the legs of the elements underlying the abutment Zones between said tiles and with the abutting edges of the tiles disposed intermediate the edges of the associated legs to effect a water impervious seal.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,821,892 9/1931 Keuls 52259 1,991,558 2/1935 Keuls 52475 2,647,849 8/1953 Douglas et al 8878 3,088,588 5/1963 Feichter et al 52173 XR 3,121,977 2/1964 Bersudsky 52-314 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,257,098 2/1961 France.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Examiner.

I. L. RIDGILL, Assistant Examiner. 

